A contemporary witness of the German economical miracle…

… is the Mercedes 190 SL roadster, first time shown in March 1955 at the Swiss Geneva Automobil-Salon. Only two months later the series production started at the Daimler-Benz Works # 4, that is the hall where the great brother 300 SL was built, too.

Maxi Hoffmann, the then US-importer of Daimler-Benz, requested in 1953 a sportive roadster which could also be used every day, to increase the market share in the US. His wish came true through the 190 SL Roadster and the triumphal procession of the legendary Mercedes Roadsters started.

The exclusive result had its price: DM 20,000.-
which was then the equivalent to half a single family home.

The known upper ten thousand could afford this roadster, beneath them movie stars like Gina Lollobrigida, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, Maureen O’Hara, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Ringo Starr, Toni Sailer and many others. In total, the Mercedes 190 SL Roadster was built between 1955 and 1963 in 25.851 examples.

Equipment Attributes

Our CarMANT Mercedes Cabrio 190 SL has still her original paint “fire truck red” of 1962 with a charming patina. While the “reds” in Germany were equipped with black leather and black softtop, the Californian “reds” got a white softtop and light brown leather which contributed to the then look for California. And this is where our car was 44 long years in the first ownership of a German based American lady until we bought this beauty back in 2007 and had it restored to quantification “2”.

CarMANT - driven by passion!

Motor, Car Body and Technology.

The 190 SL Roadster was no light weight: despite the use of aluminium (hood, trunk, door steps, doors) she weighs 1,180 kg which results in a top speed of ‘only’ 170 km/h instead of the envisaged 190 km/h.

The Styling of the 190 SL corresponds vastly with that of the 300 SL “gullwing”.

So, they took the front design, the lamps, part of the hood and the fenders in total. A lot of chromium was demanded which is reflected by the side parts.

The car got her special sportive look and flair by the lateral lancets in the front side parts which also cared for dust protection.

Videos of the Mercedes 190SL Roadster

We found a lot of videos at “YouTube”:

The singer and actor Dorkas Kiefer comparing the 1961 Mercedes 190 SL with the latest SLK 55 AMG.

This Mercedes Benz 190SL, built in 1961, was garaged from 1965 through 2000.

Jeff Whitaker introducing a Mercedes 190SL Cabrio built in 1957 (English).

The Movie Film Company Fields Productions. Inc. presenting a Mercedes 190SL Roadster in the movie “Happy Anniversary” starring David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor, 1959.

Motor-Sound Mercedes 190SL pure!

2,000 km Germany – Oldtimer-Rallye 2007, stop over at Hannover. This is one of the largest classic car events in Europe and is considered a ‘rolling museum’.

CarMANT – driven by passion!